178 



THE 00L00I8T 



to visit pelican point and to see the 

 brown pelican at home. The boys 

 were wild to see baby cormorants 

 and infant pelicans. It took us an 

 hour to reach the point, scaling cliffs 

 and crags, and dodging cacti bushes 

 and looking out for rattle snakes,. 

 We were informed that the island 

 was alive with Pacific Coast rattlers. 



From one point, we counted 56 

 nests containing young pelicans in 

 all stages of development. Very few 

 nests contained eggs. I brought back 

 nine sets of Oalifornia Brown Pelican 

 eggs (Pelicanus Californicus). They 

 were all advance, but I managed to 

 blow them with some degree of satis- 

 faction. I also brought back a young 

 pelican about four weeks old — No. 

 7773, male. 



"We returned to the launch late in 

 the afternoon. The boys saw their 

 first infant cormorant in an rookery 

 near the water's edge. They are cer- 

 tainly queer looking birds. The nests 

 are well placed on guano-covered 

 ledges on the most precipitous cliffs. 

 A young Brandt Cormorant looks like 

 a young ladies black kid glove turned 

 inside out and covered with axle 

 grease. 



On the way back to San Diego, we 

 counted up our list of birds and found 

 that we had recorded 17 species and 

 37 varieties of wild flowers. We will 

 never forget the pleasant outing that 

 we experienced on the Los Coronados 

 Islands, Old Mexico. We arrived in 

 the harbor as the golden sun was set- 

 ting and the shadows of evening were 

 creeping over the sea. 



GOOD WORDS 



I am writing to show my apprecia- 

 tion of the "Oologist," and to congrat- 

 ulate you on some of the real fine 

 articles of recent publication. I can 

 assure you it is read here with great 

 interest from cover to cover. There 

 is only one fault, there is not enough, 

 although for the money it gives the 

 greatest value. 



B. W. Strike, 

 2 Abingdon, Whitton, 

 Nr. Ipswich, Suffolk, England. 



BOOKS RECEIVED 



THE BIOLOGY OP BIRDS, by J. 

 Arthur Thomson, published by the 

 Macmillan Company, New York. Price 

 $5.00. 



This volume of more than four hun- 

 dred pages is a splendid contribution 

 to the subject referred to by the title. 

 It is illustrated with one colored 

 plate and fifty-nine drawings scattered 

 through the text, besides eight half- 

 tone plates. 



The text as the title would suggest 

 is devoted to a careful analysis of 

 the adaptation of birds to the various 

 surroundings in which they are found; 

 discussing the characteristics of birds, 

 the external features, food, its capture 

 and utilization, internal economy, 

 haunts, migration, courtship, eggs, 

 parental care and nesting, senses, in- 

 stincts, intelligence, pedigree, evolu- 

 tion and birds in the web of life, and 

 true the author has given exhaustive 

 study to these subjects and has set 

 forth very much that is interesting 

 and that will be of use to the bird 

 student. — R. M. B. 



